Alphabet’s Google is reportedly in talks with Samsung Electronics about manufacturing part of a future generation of its artificial intelligence processors, according to reporting attributed to The Information. The discussions have not been independently confirmed, and neither company has publicly announced such a deal.
The reported talks center on Google’s Tensor Processing Unit, or TPU, a custom AI processor used in the company’s cloud and artificial intelligence work. The report says Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. would continue making the main computing component of a next-generation TPU, while Samsung could take on a separate component that links the chip to memory.
What the Report Says
The future TPU is said to be code-named “Icefish” and still in the design phase. Samsung’s possible role would involve its advanced 2-nanometer manufacturing process, but that detail remains part of the unconfirmed reporting rather than a publicly verified production plan.
The same report says the chip is being developed with Taiwanese chip designer MediaTek. A firm production timeline has not been publicly confirmed, though the report describes mass production as a possibility later in the decade.
For Google, the reported talks fit a familiar strategic concern in advanced chips: avoiding too much dependence on one supplier when demand for AI hardware remains high. That broader motive should still be treated as an interpretation of the reported discussions, not as a confirmed statement from Google.
Why Samsung Would Matter
If Samsung were to win part of the work, it would be notable for the company’s foundry business, which competes for customers designing advanced processors. The potential arrangement has not been confirmed, so it is too early to describe it as a contract or a production win.
TSMC is widely associated with leading-edge chip manufacturing, and major technology companies have been looking closely at capacity, cost, and supplier risk as AI infrastructure spending grows. In that environment, even a partial manufacturing role for Samsung would be watched closely by the semiconductor industry.
Google’s TPUs have become an important part of its AI infrastructure story, offering the company a custom alternative to relying only on general-purpose graphics processors. The reported Samsung discussions suggest Google may be evaluating a more diversified manufacturing setup for future AI chips, but the details remain unconfirmed until the companies disclose them publicly.
For now, the clearest takeaway is limited: Google has reportedly explored a Samsung role in future AI chip production, but no final partnership has been announced.